Why Being Boring Isn't Bad

If we wear the same clothes each day, we are considered boring.

Have the same hair style for multiple years, many consider us boring.

Eat lunch or dinner at the same place, once again, boring, boring, boring. 

Having the same daily routine is another sign of a boring person. 

If we become prisoner to our calendars, then we are labeled boring and not spontaneities.

For some, being labeled “boring” prompts a need to change. For others, it re-enforces a way of doing things. 

For high achievers, being boring rules. It’s a way of life, it’s their passage toward their relentless pursuit of greatness. High achievers all look alike, regardless of their chosen field. They all have an insatiable hunger that drives their self-belief. They are carefully aggressive, have a work ethic that never stops, and are always looking for ways to improve in all aspects of their life. 

Doing the same thing day in and out creates confidence. It also stirs the creative juices from within. 

Famed entrepreneur Naval Ravikant once said: “It’s only after you’re bored you have the great ideas. It’s never going to be when you’re stressed, or busy, running around or rushed. Make the time.”

Jerry Seinfeld used to keep a calendar above his desk and cross off each day that he spent 30 minutes working on new jokes. His goal was to create as many unbroken rows of x’s on his calendar as he could. I’m sure writing jokes day in and day out go boring, but Seinfeld understood engaging in repetitive tasks allowed him to master and refine his performance. 

James Clear, author of the best-selling book Atomic Habits, affirms the value of boring routines with this: “The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom.” 

And science supports the art of boring, according to David Rock who wrote in his book, “Your Brain at Work.” 

“The basal ganglia are four masses in the brain region driving routine activities that don’t require a lot of active mental attention. From an evolutionary perspective, the basal ganglia are an older part of the brain. They are also highly energy efficient, with fewer overall limitations that the prefrontal cortex. As soon as you repeat an activity even just a few times, the basal ganglia start to take over. The basal ganglia, and many other brain regions, function beneath conscious awareness.”

Once you repeat a pattern often enough, the basal ganglia can drive the process, freeing up the stage (your conscious thinking) for new functions. The more you use a pattern, the less attention you will need to pay to doing this task, and the more you will be able to do at one time.

When you fall in love with boring, you also fall in love with winning as former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban says in this interview. 

Being boring wins and will never go out of style.

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